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Liberal leadership bid: Deb Matthews taking a pass

Former economic development minister Sandra Pupatello to kick off campaign Thursday, Citizenship and Immigration Minister Charles Sousa on Saturday.

Ontario Health Minister Deb Matthews will not run for leadership of the Ontario Liberal Party, she said Wednesday. (Andrew Vaughan / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILE PHOTO)

By Rob FergusonQueen’s Park Bureau

Wed., Nov. 7, 2012

Health Minister Deb Matthews is taking a pass on the Ontario Liberal leadership race while two other prominent Grits are set to launch their bids for Premier Dalton McGuinty’s $209,000-a-year-job.

Sources confirmed former economic development minister Sandra Pupatello, now a director of global business development for PricewaterhouseCoopers will kick off her campaign Thursday in Toronto while Citizenship and Immigration Minister Charles Sousa makes his announcement Saturday in Mississauga.

Sousa will resign from McGuinty’s cabinet “in the next 24 hours,” a source close to his campaign said Wednesday, complying with a McGuinty edict that minister quit their posts if they run.

Pupatello, who did not run in the last provincial election, will travel to her hometown of Windsor after her announcement and attend an evening function at an Italian club there where her supporters will be selling party memberships in the race for delegates leading to the Jan. 25-27 leadership convention in Toronto.

For her part, Deb Matthews said the health care system needs a “steady hand” as transformation continues to keep costs in line and improve service.

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“After much thought I’ve decided the biggest contribution I can make is to stay right where I am,” she told the Health Achieve hospital conference at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

“Over the next few months we can make some big steps forward,” she said later, acknowledging her term as health minister could come to an end when a new premier is chosen or a provincial election widely expected next spring.

Matthews, a grandmother of four, said she plans to run in the next Ontario election.

Matthews had been deliberating for just over three weeks since Premier Dalton McGuinty’s surprise resignation, frequently hinting she had everything in place for a run but was wrestling with the decision on a personal level.

As well, Matthews, a sister-in-law of former premier David Peterson, would have faced increased scrutiny for her oversight of the health ministry in the ORNGE air ambulance scandal.

None of the leadership candidates from McGuinty’s cabinet can dodge responsibility for ORNGE and other turmoil like the eHealth Ontario debacle, said Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak.

“They were all there,” he said at Queen’s Park. “They all looked the other way when the ORNGE scandal developed.”

Matthews insisted ORNGE was “not at all” a factor in her decision.

Already in the race are former Municipal Affairs and Housing minister Kathleen Wynne, who announced her bid Monday night, and former Training, Colleges and Universities Minister Glen Murray, who made his announcement Sunday at Maple Leaf Gardens — the same venue where the leadership convention will be held.

Several contenders have already bowed out of the race, including embattled Energy Minister Chris Bentley, also from London and under fire for the politically motivated cancellations of two power plants that will cost taxpayers at least $230 million, and Finance Minister Dwight Duncan.

Sousa could face heat over the cancelled gas plant near Sherway Gardens mall, just north of his Mississauga riding. Sousa was a firm opponent of the plant, which was fought by residents.

Duncan has said he would support a Pupatello bid. Because he will not run in the next general election, Pupatello could run for his Windsor-Tecumseh seat after her old seat in Windsor-West was won by Liberal Teresa Piruzza.

Also considering bids are former education minister Gerard Kennedy and current Children and Youth Services Minister Eric Hoskins, a medical doctor.

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